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BOOK REVIEW
| William Kenefick, Red Scotland! The Rise and Fall of the Radical Left, c. 1872 to 1932, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2007. pp. x + 230. $45.99 paper.
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| As a Scots-Australian, born and reared in north Lanarkshire, Scotland's erstwhile industrial heartland – my first school was the Keir Hardie Memorial Primary School where Hardie worked in local pits as a boy – I came to this book eagerly. I must admit that I was at first a little disappointed. The introduction is a tad turgid and the book is generally a little slow to really get going. There is an academic textbook impression when you first start reading this book which can be a little off putting and appears to give the lie to the wonderful title and very attractive cover. I am pleased to note that as I read further into the book I came more and more to appreciate its great strengths. |
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Kenefick covers a critically important, turbulent and frequently highly contested 60 years of Scottish labour/radical history in an admirably clear and concise fashion. He presents a wealth of detail and tackles highly controversial topics like 'The Myth of Red Clydeside' in an exceptionally fair, thoughtful and balanced manner. Kenefick is by no means averse to presenting his own analysis of events but he is careful to present a range of contrary views in a fair and respectful manner – the joys of invective, editorialising and getting even with one's political/academic enemies are forgone. Kenefick is never less than professional and the further I read into his book the more impressed I became with his judgement and the more persuasive I found his arguments/analysis. |
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